


The Fun in Dysfunctional

by discoquinn



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Suicide Squad (2016)
Genre: Angst, Arkham Asylum, But it’s also not healthy, Drama, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Harley Quinn Origin Story, Hurt/Comfort, Identity Issues, Mad love with a twist, Non-Abusive, POV Harleen Quinzel, POV Joker (DCU), Romance, Slow Burn, Smut, Violence, deep denial
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-12 04:41:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28879647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/discoquinn/pseuds/discoquinn
Summary: The road to hell is paved with good intentions.Given the opportunity for a headstart in her career, Dr. Harleen Quinzel takes on the twisted case of patient #6081, the infamous Joker. The more time they spend in therapy sessions the more she feels him creeping under her skin. But what the Joker ends up terribly miscalculating: She was getting under his too!——————————————————What happens when professional curiosity blooms into a full-grown obsession? Her own slow descend into madness becomes inevitable!(Story updates Weekly!)
Relationships: Joker & Harley, Joker (DCU)/Harleen Quinzel, Pamela Isley & Harleen Quinzel
Comments: 17
Kudos: 78





	1. Blood in the Water

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, fellow readers. This story is something that has been sitting on my computer forever. I never really had the intention to publish it. But I decided to give it a shot as I absolutely enjoy writing stories for these two. 
> 
> Whilst the relationship won’t be abusive as it is so often displayed, it won’t exactly be normal and healthy either. However I’m planning to go in depth with the Jokers side of events a lot. As you can imagine he will be in deep denial about his “feelings”.
> 
> A little disclaimer before we start. No, I don’t own any rights, it all belongs to Warner Brothers and DC Comics.

_ Tainted flesh is all over the room, toxic fumes make them nauseous. But I need it, craving dysfunction and violence. Perfectly reacting as one.  _

* * *

The Jokers figure sat slumped forward on his chair, lids half shut as his face was gazing downwards. His eyes glued to a particularly dirty spot on the table. Single strands of his green locks had escaped their neatly backwards combed shape and were now gracing his pale forehead.

The violet patches on his cheekbones and jaw, he had arrived with, had started fading by now and were slowly changing into a softer hue, much unlike the first time they had met. Beaten like a dog he’d been but dissimilar to everyone else SHE had looked at him more like a broken little puppy.

_ “ Ha-ha...tell me Doctor are you out of your min-d? “_

A soft snicker rumbled in his chest at the memory of their first session together.  _ Oh didn’t she know? _ Didn’t she know he was gonna crack her open and eat her alive? He could tell she had tried so hard to cover up that lack of experience and hide it behind her professional attitude and those sinfully, tight fitted skirts and eightinchers she wore to their sessions.

Evil tongues had it that this was the only reason she got the job in first place. They weren’t granting her the success, no one believed she’d even make it further than one session with him. He’d cracked them all so far!

He was itching to get his hands on something fresh, a new toy. An innocent brain that he could mold and twist and slowly turn it into a piece of art.

Even though he did find himself intrigued by those baby blues, he very well saw more than just innocence in them. There was a certain spark everytime he made an unexpected move or leaned a bit too far across the table. It wasn’t just fear. It was excitement..

After this one session with her, he’d decided that she had proven herself worthy of his time. The pencil in his grasp dropped. Wedged into the straitjacket it had been ready to pierce her eyeball any second. _  
_

_ Let’s play, Dr. Quinzel!_

A soft purr escaped his red lips when the door finally opened. The Jokers gaze snapped up, the second he heard the metal chair squeak as she sat down across from him. His cold blue eyes pierced through her like acid.

* * *

With shaky legs Harleen took a seat in the dimly lit room. She could feel herself holding her breath everytime she stepped into the room. It wasn’t so much that she was afraid, no, just the sheer tension of his persona seemed to thicken the air noticeably each time.

She felt their knees bumping together under the table, his long slender legs were grazing her’s for the fracture of a moment. And as brief as it may have been the physical contact sent thrills of excitement through her body. She shivered slightly, quickly withdrawing her leg and moved her chair backwards with an embarrassed cough.  _ What was that?! Get yourself together Harleen! _ He was her patient after all. Still she couldn’t help but wonder if he had felt the same kind of rush...? One look into his face gave away the answer, as he welcomed her with a bright grin.

The Doctors face noticeably reddenedbefore she finally managed to shake off the embarrassment and proceed.

„Well, Good morning Mr. Joker. How are you feeling today. I hope you have been able to sleep? Has the medication worked at all?“ she greeted him with a friendly smile.

„Hello Doc-tor... So early and so many questions, I see...“ he snickered, “ to answer your question I slept like a baby! Now I don’t know what‘s in that stuff you gave me but it knocked me out better than a good old fist fight.“ he chuckled.

„You seem to be having a lot of them then?” she laughed at his remark, gazing up from her notepad for a brief second.

“Oh you bet I do. A guy dressed up like me?! I’ve seen a lot of fists up close.” he nodded.

“How do you usually respond to violence then?” she questioned him.

„Getting all analytical here, aren’t we? Well how does one respond to a good old left hook! I go by the means of the saying always bring a knife to a fist fight.” he snickered.

Harleen frowned slightly “I’m not sure if that’s really how the saying goes.” She chuckled. “Isn’t that considered wrong sportsmanship?”

“Welcome to Gotham, toots!“ he shrugged.

“Which I assume goes around the same meaning of eat or be eaten?” she remarked her eyes meeting his once again

“Ohh you‘re a smart one, aren’t cha?“ he sneered in reply. „I feel like I’m finally able to work out my problems here. Unlike the other folks they send me. You, Dr. Quin-zel truly understand! You must be the _harlequin_ underneath all these fools.“ he licked his lips, his piercing eyes staring her down.

“I suppose you could say that. Although, I wouldn’t call all of my colleagues fools. I’ve heard you’ve run into quite some uh, troubles with my predecessors?“ she quirked an eyebrow at him, recalling the stories of staff landing in the emergency room after one session with him.

“Trouble?! I guess, if you wanna put it like that.” he shrugged. “Now, they did seem to have some TROUBLES understanding my views. To clarify, I was kinda under the impression they weren’t really listening, you see. So I was left with no other choice but to give them a little wake up call.” the Joker explained to her with a predatory smile.

“Not sure if you were as successful with that, one of them landed in the IR and was put into artificial coma.” she replied dryly, clearly not impressed.

He snickered at her response sensing the clear form of wit in her words.

“Oh but if it wasn’t for that, we would have never met. Seeing you sitting infront of me in all your glory, I don’t find myself feeling regretful at all.“ he told her innocently.  


She bit her lips trying to prevent a smile from blooming at his quite open response. It was hard to not let his words get to her but she quickly tried to come up with a suitable response.

“Do you ever..feel regretful about any of your choices.“ she wanted to know.

“Only if I made the wrong ones which well, uh, usually doesn’t happen to me.” he shrugged gazing up to the ceiling as if he had found a particular interesting shape on the tiles.

_ A picture book narcissist._

She strongly raised an eyebrow at that. “Well would you not consider landing here, the product of a regretful choice?“ she asked him pointing around her.

“Why, thank you.“ he snickered, clearly not offended. „Regretful? No! More than anything I consider my stays here of vacational nature. Meet some new faces, leave some impressions. This little time out is giving me more than enough time for some self reflection. Bigger plans, you know.” he waggled his non existent eyebrows.

_ The Joker on vacation in Arkham..._

“Now..uhm.. that’s an interesting way to see it, Mr. J. But I’m not sure if many people would call their stay here a vacation. I’ve seen how the guards treat you around here..” she said regretfully, her eyes landing on the purple bruise on his left cheek and for a brief second she was almost tempted to reach out and touch it. Of course she knew better not to. She truly hated how some things were handled in here. After all, they were all still humans in need of recovery.

“That’s quite the shiner you got there, Mr. J...” she whispered. “Did the nurses have a look at it already?” She asked quietly.

His silence gave away the answer. Even though the marks on his cheekbones and jaw had started to heal, he received a couple new ones the day prior, by a particularly vengeful guard that had busted his lip and left an open wound on his forehead. He hardly even remembered it was there but he decided to play along and gave her a pained look. 

“Alright, Mr. J. I know this goes slightly against protocol but...would you mind if I gave it a quick look over? Make sure nothing gets infected?” she got up from her seat and pulled out a little first aid chest from her bag. Working at Arkham had proven it was always handy to have one of those around. 

“You gotta promise me to stay seated and no funny business, alright? Got my panic button right here, you see?” she said firmly, pointing under the table. 

“Yes m’am.” He gave her an innocent smile in return. 

Carefully she stepped closer, her delicate fingers lifting his chin up to get a better look at the injury. She frowned slightly. The tissue was swollen and showed first symptoms of infection. 

She quickly reached for a bottle of peroxide and a tissue to apply it. “This might burn a little but it will be over very quick.” she said softly, dreading to hurt him.

Whilst her left hand held his head in place her right hand quickly applied the disinfectant. The Joker didn’t move neither did he squirm instead he started leaning into her touch. _Was he enjoying this?_ For the sake of her professionalism and possibly her sanity she decided to brush it off and retreated her hand to gather a tube of ointment.

She gently applied the gel on his forehead. This was probably the last and only time she’d ever be this close to him. It was possible that she might have over exaggerated the amount of ointment she had put on his injury. His skin naturally appeared cold yet it seemed burning hot under her touch. Was his whole body like this?  _ No, she shouldn’t be asking herself this! _

He hummed softly as she retreated her hand satisfied with her work. “There we go..” she smiled.

“That’s it already?” he questioned and she was sure she could almost sense a hint of disappointment in his voice.

“Why you got another ache to look after, Mr. J?” she chuckled starting to put everything back into the box.

“Oh, you know I might do, actually...” he spoke in a suggestive voice that was quickly followed by a snicker.

That’s when things really started to get to her and she couldn’t help the blush that creeped into her face. 

“I’m afraid that’s something you’ll have to look after yourself.” she cleared her throat. „Unfortunately, our session is already over.” she added glancing up to the clock.

„Hmm...what a shame.“ he hummed, shifting in his seat. His straitjacket making it impossible to get into a comfortable position. „Maybe next time you can get me out of this thing. Will ya?“ he asked her with a toothy grin.

It was hard to deny him anything when he gave her that smile but Harleen knew better than to fall for his charms. „I‘m afraid I can’t do that just now. But if you prove yourself at your best behaviour, I‘ll see what I can do.“ she told him, reaching for her bag and notepad. 

„Pinky promise!“ he reassured her. „Until next time, Doc-tor.“ he said as he watched the doors click open for the guards to pick him up.

* * *

Harleen took a direct queue into the restroom immediately after her session with the Joker. She hadn’t even realized how flustered she looked. It was like every single one of her nerve endings was on fire and she could still feel her heart beating like crazy. Throwing her bag to the side she started splashing cold water into her face in order to collect herself again.

It was hard to see through to him and at the same time it wasn’t. She could tell he was playing a game with her, trying to lure her into a false sense of safety. She had been warned numerously by her colleagues and supervisor. Yet she felt like she had managed to establish a basic level of trust with him.

Harleen had very well noticed the pencil dropping out of his straitjacket after their first session together had ended. He had let her see it on purpose, as if to tell her she had passed his test. She was painfully aware of the fact that he could have jumped her at any given moment of their session, yet he decided not to. She had proven that she wasn’t „boring“ as he would put it. She swallowed hard.

_What made her think he wouldn't twist her like he'd done it with the others?_

She took a deep breath to collect her thoughts.

_ No, she wouldn't let that happen._

She had studied him for ages. This was her chance to make a go with her career and finally get out of the crappy flat she lived, in one of the worst parts of town.

She gazed down at the clock on her phone, 6:30 pm. Time for her to go home. She still had to prepare herself both mentally and physically for her next session with him. It would be foolish to meet him unprepared knowing what happened to his former doctors. They had fallen like stickmen after just one session with him as he took them apart one after one. His case had stayed untouched ever since. She assumed it was all just a game to him. He came and went just as he pleased and there was no one to stop him. Not even the Batman.

He was a force of nature and she was dying to get a closer look inside his head.

Ready to head home, Harleen quickly grabbed her bag and clipped the large folder of the Joker under her arm as she had failed to fit it in her bag earlier.

The clicking of her highs heels ringed through the Asylum, piercing the silence. She didn't even know why she wore these bloody things.  Cause they made her more professional looking? More mature? Didn't matter, right now she felt like stepping out of them and leaving them right there on the bloody floor.

"Good eve, Dr. Quinzel." the friendly guy at the security control called over to her. She gave him a friendly smile before she slipped her card into the scanner and walked through the gate.

It was raining. _Great_ , she thought. And of course she didn't carry an umbrella with her so she kept Jokers folder closely pressed to her chest so it wouldn't get soaked by the rain as she hurried across the car park.

Once inside her vehicle she took a deep exhausted breath and started the car. Harleen reached over to turn on the car radio, as she found the silence bothering but her hands only hit blank space.

She groaned in annoyance as she quickly remembered that it had been stolen a couple days ago by some idiot gang members.

It was her own fault, really. She had been foolish enough to believe it was safe to park her car in a less crowded alley so she could ran some quick errands, as it was old and run down and nothing much to look at. She was quickly proven wrong when she returned 5 minutes later just to find her windows shattered and her radio gone.

Once at home she took a quick shower and went straight to bed. She shut her eyes and immediately fell into a deep dreamless sleep.


	2. Of Grape Sodas and Batman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harleen finds herself growing increasingly frustrated. Her infamous patients case threatens to become an obsession.

The next couple days went by exhaustingly slow. She found herself glancing at the clock more and more often. The time just didn’t seem to pass and for Harleen, Friday couldn’t come fast enough. Even during sessions with her other patients, it had become quite the challenge to stay present when her thoughts kept shifting back to him. What she called professional interest threatened to become an obsession and whilst she tried to remain aware of that fact she couldn’t stop herself from being pulled in.

_Then finally_ , Friday arrived.

From the moment she woke up and had her first morning coffee till she finally sat in her office, ages seemed to pass. She still had some work to do and forms to fill out before her session with the Joker. Harleen repeatedly caught herself checking the clock above her desk, the ticking both calming and unsettling at the same time.  


An annoyed sigh escaped her and she dropped her pen in capitulation as she felt it was impossible to focus on anything else right now. She got up from her chair, smoothing down the wrinkles on her skirt and slipped out of her office, deciding it was time for her third coffee of the morning. 

"Quinzel!" she heard someone call after her just as she was about to pick up the hot beverage from the machine. She turned around to find Professor Arkham at the end of the floor, closely followed by a group of guards.  


He walked up to her, his old, weathered face looking at her in displease. She immediately guessed something must have happened. Before she even had the chance to ask he started talking.

“Quinzel, there's a slight change in schedule. Your session with patient 6081, is being rearranged. There was a riot in wing C tonight causing severe damage in the following rooms." he explained with an exhausted sigh, wiping the sweat off his brow.

_ Doctor...it's Doctor Quinzel _ , she thought,wanting to correct him but was too caught up with what he just said. "Pardon? I-I don't quite understand, sir. What exactly does rearranged mean?" she blinked in confusion, feeling her hand that was holding the hot beverage tremble. Anxious of the thought she possibly had to wait another week till she could finally see him again.

"It means you're gonna see your patient earlier and the session will have to take place in the interview room instead. Now if you would follow me, Quinzel. Your session will proceed right away." he said sternly, like he was already fed up by the conversation.

"Yes sure, sir. Let me just grab my stuff from the office." she stammered and hurried to her office quickly collecting her stuff before she followed the men down the floor. She had never been so grateful about a riot taking place.

They stopped infront of a grey door. One of the guards reached out to open it for her, throwing her a quick compassionate look, as if she was about to stride the gallows. She quickly adjusted her skirt and fixed her hair before she made her way into the small room.

* * *

  
It was quiet in there, the Doctor could almost hear her own heart beat as she entered the room. The lights were a lot brighter compared to the dull lighting in the hallway. It took her some time to adjust her eyes to the artificial neon light but the first thing she was able to make out was a bright pair of blue eyes and a row of silver clad teeth smiling widely at her. 

_ She felt her heart skipping a beat. _

„Doc-tor Quinzel.... I thought you‘d never come.“ he remarked cheekily. 

_Had he been just as excited to see her again?_ She doubted it, even though part of her remained intrigued by the thought. 

„Good morning, Mr. J. Sorry to keep you waiting.“ she told him apologetically and offered him a warm smile instead.

„Hmm...water under the bridge. Now, seeing this purr-e-cious smile again makes up for all the wait.“ he hummed, glancing down at her lips that were still stretched into a now blushing smile. _He was pouring sugar over her._

„You know honest smiles are so rare in here, doctor.“ he explained to her. „This place tends to kill all humour by it‘s root or... simply turns it into dribbling vegetables.“ he explained to her with a snicker.

_He wasn’t wrong._ What was supposed to be a place of rehabilitation usually just made people worse, patients and staff equally.

„I know how some things are handled here sadly. But I promise, I‘m here to make a difference.“ she said with the slightest hint of determination.

„How sweet. A girl with a plan, hm?“ He sneered, lowering his head to watch her closely.

„Tell me, Doctor. Are you going to try and fix me as well? Like the other doctors that came before you? _Desperate_ , so desperate, to get their gropey little fingers on a piece of my mind?“ he questioned her with a low growl, his eyes seemingly turning two shades darker as he stared at her from across the table. 

_Had his mood just done a 180 on her?_

„No, Mr. J.“ she radically shook her head, bravely leaning towards him instead of backing up at his malicious glare. „I‘m not gonna try to fix you. I want to help you, by getting to know you better.“ she told him truthfully.

He watched her closely, his eyes scanning her for any sign of dishonesty or even weakness but as moments passed, his expression softened and he leaned back in his chair again. It appeared she had passed the test for now.

“Hm... help me? Now, that would be a first.“ he sneered sarcastically, his eyes falling down to her bag on the floor. One purple item had particularly caught his attention.

„Whatcha got there?“ he nodded his head to the spot on the floor where her bag was leaning against the table.

She was confused for a moment before she realised what he was pointing at and bend down to retreat the can of grape soda she had purchased prior to their session on one of the snack machines.

„Oh this you mean? Just a grape soda. One of my faves.“ she said noticing his clear infatuation with the drink.

„Well... you know, this actually goes against protocol as well but maybe we could make a little exception if you‘d.... let’s say... told me about the Batman?“ she proposed with hopefulness in her voice. 

He quirked his shaved brow at her. He had played this game too many times to not see through what she was doing. „Dr. Quin-zel....“ he said in mock affront, “Putting on the, eh, hard bandages now, are we?” he grinned maliciously. Nonetheless he wasn’t opposed to accept the harmless bribe.

“Fine, I’ll bite, doc. Goods first, info later.” he licked his lips.

His steel blue eyes glanced longingly over to the cold beverage as he impatiently, watched her slender fingers pop the can open.

“I’m afraid I can’t let you out of your straitjacket just now, Mr. J. I’ll have to come over to you. So, you’ll better behave, yes?” she told him with a stern look before rising out of the chair in order to lift the can up to his lips.

They were once again so dangerously close, if he planned to jump her now he could do so without having to leap over the table first. The awareness of her own mortality however, didn’t stop Harleen.

He leaned down to take a long messy sip from the can, half of it spilling over his chin and proceeded to run down his chest underneath the straitjacket. “Whoopsies...” he snickered, innocently. “Silly me, made a big ol’ mess there.” he licked his lips.

Without thinking she reached forward to swipe her thumb over his chin. Only realising moments later what she was doing.

He purred slightly as she leaned forward to clean his face. The brief touch almost felt electric when her warm skin made contact with his cold one.

He was almost tempted to spill some more of the soda. It became clear that she wasn’t doing this just for any of her patients and he was in fact, special. Strangely enough, something about that thought pleased him.

With a blush creeping into her face she quickly took a step back, almost stumbling over her own feet.

“Soo, time to talk business. The Batman?” she said slightly out of breath. “You seem to have caught quite the attention on your arrival. Batman even took it upon himself to bring you here in person. I want to know more about your relation to him.” she inquired whilst moving back to her chair.

“Oh you and I, we both seem to turn quite a few heads in here! Maybe just in different ways.” he chortled with a smirk.

She quirked an eyebrow at him, wondering what he meant by that.

Before he could speak any further there was a sharp knock on the door. “Quinzel, you alright in there? You’re 5 minutes overdue, we’re here to come pick up the clown.” a guard shouted from the other site.

“Crap...” Harleen cursed under her breath, just as they finally managed to get somewhere. She quickly retreated the soda can from him and rose out of her seat.  


“Well Mr. Joker, I’m hoping we can pick up where we left off in our next session.” she told him before picking up her bag and turning to leave. 

“You know where to find me.” he called after her, his dark eyes following her out. 

She quickly walked past the guards giving them a polite nod before she once again found herself seeking the rest room.

* * *

“ _Damn, Harleen you look like shit...”_ she thought to herself after seeing her own reflection in the mirror. She had barely slept the past days. Nightmares of clowns and bats haunting her. _Had he actually managed to get under her skin yet?_

She sighed heavily. _No!_ She wouldn’t let him get the better of her. She had managed to get this far already. After all, he hadn’t killed or sent her to the ER yet, which told her he was getting something out of this as well. What exactly she couldn’t pinpoint exactly. But the more he may managed to climb under her nails, the more she was climbing under his as well! At least that’s what she tried to tell herself.

It wasn’t until another week till she would see him again and Harleen found herself growing more and more frustrated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go go, Chapter two! The tension in Harleens mind is slowly increasing... I’ve got something special prepared for Chapter three, which will probably be posted on the weekend, so keep an eye out :)


	3. Boiling Point

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unsatisfied with their most recent therapy session. Their next encounter leads Harleen into committing her most foolish decision yet.

_Her next encounter with the Joker actually happened much sooner than expected._

She was just on her way home after finishing another brutal weekend shift at Arkham. As she proceeded down the dimly lit hallway she noticed movements coming from further down the corridor. Nothing unusual even at this hour. It wasn’t until she heard the Jokers manic laughter followed by guards shouting that she fully snapped awake. 

Against her initial instinct to just go home, she hurried down the end of the hallway, stopping in her tracks as she spotted a flash of green hair.

She stood there and watched two guards drag him out of the shower blocks, shoving the poor clown face first into a wall before they started roughening him up.

“How you like that, freak? Not feeling so cocky now, huh?” the first guard hissed at him as he repeatedly smashed his face into the wall.

Red hot rage started building up in her as she saw the two men land kicks and punches on the defenseless clown on the floor. _How could they?_ She had to put a stop to it! Before she knew it she felt herself charging at them.

“Get the hell away from my patient!” she spat at them, feeling her fist connect with the boney jaw of the guard. Something in her wrist painfully snapped, but she hoped it had at least left some impact on the gorilla infront of her.

“Urghh-...bitch!” He hissed, letting go of the Joker to hold his paining jaw.

“What the hell are you thinking?!” she shouted at them, her eyes flaring up with anger before she quickly turned to the Joker, who was now slumped down on the floor.

“Mr. J... a-are you alright?” she questioned him worriedly. Harleen didn’t hesitate to kneel down infront of him and cradled his face to get a better look at the damage, the two cavemen had caused.

“Oh, I am now.” his lips spread into a bloody smile. “You got a mean right hook eh, Doc?” he remarked wolfishly.

“A girl gotta know how defend herself...” she hummed.

“Oh I bet you do!” he licked his lips, his eyes darkening slightly.

“Bring him back to his cell now and I-I don’t ever want to see you laying hands on any of my patients again. Did I make myself clear?” she hissed at the guards, throwing them her meanest look.

“Y-yes...sure m’am. We were just uh, disciplining him. The freak tried to jump us in the shower.” the other guard in question tried to explain whilst the first one remained silent and instead just glared daggers at her.

She huffed in distaste at their answer. “Now I’m sure two men of your size know how to handle themselves without applying violence against an individual!” she spat back, clearly fed up with them.

The Joker watched the whole thing in amusement. _Now who would have thought his good little Doctor could get so mean, if she wanted to?_ Seeing her act with so much sweet, delicious, uncontrolled rage...it certainly hit different. He had noticed something slip inside her that moment. A sneak peek underneath that well rehearsed mask of sanity and self control. It made his fingers twitch with the urge to fully rip it off and reveal the little devil that was hiding underneath. _Soon_ , he thought.

“Come and see me, Doctor.” he managed to whisper to her before he was dragged back up to his feet by the guards as they proceeded to carry him to his cell.

Harleen blinked in slight confusion. _What the hell just happened? Had she actually just punched a guard?_ One glance at her now pulsating wrist gave away the answer. _God, she was actually losing it._ She thought back to his words. He had wanted her to come and see him? Unguarded, unsupervised and most importantly no panic button. She considered for a moment. If she really wanted to make some type of progress in this case she would have to take some risks.

_Oh, to hell with it._ She had acted against her better judgement enough times at this point so what was one more time?   


Harleen waited about 15 minutes to make sure the guards had disappeared before she made her way down to the maximum security block. It was an ungodly hour to be walking here alone. Riots happened all the time after all. But right now she couldn’t care less about consequences.

“Well, well, look who came all the way down to see me.” she heard him purr as she got closer to his cell. The clicks of her high heels had given her away. 

“Mr. J...What happened back there in the showers?” she directly questioned him, trying to keep her voice as low as possible as she faced him through the glass window of his cell. Joker was throwing her the most shiteating smile. His hair was still all wet and hanging in lose strands over his forehead.

“I didn’t drop the soap, if that’s what you’re tryna ask.” he chortled. “Wellll... let’s just say I noticed the guards saying some rather uh, wicked things about you...” he admitted, leaning his forehead against the glass. His eyes briefly fell shut as he was recalling their wording.

...

_ “I tell you mate. First she went on her knees for Prof. Arkham and now for the clown himself. Wonder what she’ll do for a coffee and half a chocolate bar.” the guard had whispered to his colleague with a dirty grin. “You saw that thing she was wearing just today? That woman wants it bad. I should give her office a visit after work and-...” _

_... _

“Y-you were defending me?” She whispered in disbelief at the cavalry act.

_Huh, what was that?_ Defending her, _no_. He simply didn’t like other peoples hands on his toys. “Pfff... think nothing of it. I’ve only done the groundworks for your little stunt there.” he purred, his eyes now glancing up at her.

She blushed slightly at his comment. Truthfully she wasn’t exactly that proud about that one even if it had felt somewhat freeing? 

“But look at yourself, Mr. J. You’re hurt..” Harleen frowned, glancing at the huge laceration on the side of his face. She doubted anyone would care enough to treat it in the morning. The nurses barely took a step into his cell. 

She had to help him! He was still tightly locked, in his straitjacket so what could he possibly do? 

_And so the lamb stepped into the lions cage..._ she thought as her key card slid through the lock. 

The door opened and closed with a beep and she found herself inside the Jokers cell. From all the bad decisions she made, which at this point were probably quite a few, this one was the absolutely worst one! 

“I didn’t knew, you do uh, house visits...”the Joker chimed. He clearly hadn’t expected her to stumble into his cell. She never failed to surprise him. Brave little Harleen. He almost began to believe she had some kind of masochistic streak in her?

“Alright, Mr. J... I’m not even gonna start about breaking the protocol.” she laughed nervously. “Let’s just get you fixed up and call it a day, shall we?” she told him, shifting in her step. 

“Oh abso-lutely, Doc. Wouldn’t wanna keep you awake.” 

_ He already did. _

“Whilst I’ll do that. Maybe you could tell me a little bit more about you and the Bat?” she suggested, adverting her gaze to shuffle in her bag for the first aid kit. She had turned her back to him. A grave mistake.

Before she could even hear the drop of his strait jacket, she felt him breathing down her neck. She didn’t even manage to snap around before his strong arm wrapped around her throat and pulled her flushly against him.

“J..- Don’t!” Harleen croaked out, her hands reaching up to his. Was that it? Was she the stupid little mouse that went for the cheese and found itself crushed in a trap? 

“Harley, Harley, Har-ley. What am I gonna do about you? It’s always the same bo-ring questions you people ask... Never why, only ever WHO!” he hissed into her ear, his choke hold tightening around her neck. “When will you start asking the REAL questions,hm? You’re not uh, seeing the bigger picture here!” he told her with a ferocious growl. 

She felt herself slowly being dragged into the abyss as her mind started going cloudy from the lack of oxygen. 

“S-show me...” she whispered, using all her strength to turn around in his arms, her baby blue eyes bravely piercing into his. Fear pushed aside, she wasn’t just gonna let him kill her without at least getting her answers. “Show me!” she repeated with more determination this time, her lips suddenly quirking into a smile.

He expected her to cry, fight back maybe even plead for her life. Instead she _smiled_. Was she somewhat getting dizzy in the head? It was irritating, to say the least. Yet he found himself intrigued by the little weirdo infront of him. 

He started losing his grip on her neck to allow some air flow back into her lungs whilst he calculated his next move. 

Now, she didn’t didn’t get the answer she was hoping for. But in this case his silence was speaking volumes. Whilst he had managed to pierce through every single nerve in her body, she had at least struck one of his. 

She would have given about everything in this moment just for a little peak into his mind. He was just staring at her, as if she was the most complicate puzzle he had ever seen.

It wasn’t until now that she realised how close they really were. She could literally feel his warm breath hitting against her face. The metallic smell was almost intoxicating. _Damaged_. Yes, he truly was a broken creature. But she dared to take the guess that he wasn’t incapable of feeling after all! Her little hands suddenly reached out to touch his face, that was riddled with little scars and tattoos. He didn’t move, didn’t even blink, allowing the touch.

God, for someone so broken, he was _beautiful_.

Before she knew it, she had pushed herself up on her tip toes, her whole body trembling as she bluntly pressed her lips on his. Moments passed where he remained unmoving. It wasn’t until she almost decided to pull back when his lips finally started responding.

A soft growl sounded in the back of his throat when she suddenly found herself being slammed into the wall behind her. Every inch of her body now flushly pressed against his.

_Was the lack of oxygen letting her make things up?_ Right now she couldn’t care less!

Her lips eagerly moved against his whilst he responded in an almost punishing manner. There was a certain desperation in his touch as he tilted her head up firmly and let his metal teeth brush against her lips. It was unclear wether he was about to choke her dead any moment or devour her alive. 

A soft moan escaped her lips as she felt his teeth sink into them. Hazed in a cloud of lust her nails started scrape into his back, breaking the skin on his shoulder blades. She could feel that it was clearly doing _something_ for him but before she could proceed, the Joker suddenly pulled back.

He quickly stepped away, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and moved back towards to his cot. _What the hell just happened?_ She looked after him in confusion, her breath ragged from the lack of oxygen.

“You should go home, Harley...“ he told her finally with a sigh, letting his shaky handsglide over his face and into his hair, slicking it backwards into shape like nothing had happened just moments ago.

“Right, yes... I’ll-...Goodnight, Mr. J.” she mumbled quickly, before storming out of his cell, taking her key card and bag with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That’s it for chapter 3. The Joker and Harleen finally gotten closer. But what will this spicy encounter mean for Harleys career..? Let me know how you liked this chapter! :)


	4. Prey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harleen and the Joker are both dealing with the painful aftermath of their previous steamy encounter in his cell.

She wanted to cry, scream, perhaps even slap herself for her own foolishness. Instead, however, she reached for the bottle of whiskey in her top drawer. Tonight’s events had been clear evidence that she was absolutely losing it. Closing her eyes she sunk down on the kitchen floor trying to find reason in her actions.

Not only had she put herself and possibly the whole facility in danger – she had broken her own rules of professionalism!

Hell, how could she return to a normal day by day after this? Hold sessions with him as usual, throw him stupid smiles whilst taking notes of the crap he was serving her? Lie to herself and anyone and pretend hat nothing that night had ever happened?

_“_ And you’re so good at pretending, aren’t you?” she laughed bitterly to herself before taking a swig out of her whiskey bottle. If only the burning liquid could dissolve her sins...

The most reasonable thing to do at this point, was to hand over the case and go back to her B-class villains. Make a career out of writing thesis after thesis about them with slim hope to eventually earn some form of recognition. Marry a neurosurgeon and retire with 50. Wasn’t that just the life her mother had wished for her? 

_No, giving up was definitely not an option for her!_ She had sacrificed too much at this point. Witnessing her colleagues spiteful looks as they gloated over her failure was not worth it! Before things escalated so drastically, she’d actually felt like she was making progress with him. Even though he was spoon feeding her the information, Harleen had managed to built a connection. _An intense one._ Which was more than anyone else in her métier ever managed to accomplish.

She reached up to touch the still paining choke marks around her neck. They’d certainly turn into a bright purple the next morning. _He had marked her..._

Once again the recaps of earlier the night started playing in her head. He could have crushed her. Snapped her neck like a twig or simply watched her slow demise by choking her just long enough. Yet he didn’t. 

She clearly remembered the look of puzzlement on his face. It had almost given her a feeling of victory.

And when they kissed. Oh that kiss. He had been all in! There was no doubt in her mind that he’d been feeling the same way as she did in that moment. It wasn’t until things got increasingly heated that he pulled away. She recalled the feeling of rejection and confusion. 

Had he actually rejected her though or simply the _feeling_ it was giving him? 

Nevertheless she felt stupid for even allowing things to get this far. She should have just gone home that night, back to her depressingly under furnitured flat and went to bed instead of following his stupid request to come see him. 

His laugh was still ringing in her ears. And in her mind she suddenly saw herself joining in. A duet of maniacal laughter. 

“Stop it!” she cried covering her ears in a pointless attempt to silence the disturbing sounds. 

With a pained hiss she sent the bottle whiskey flying against the wall.

_ Was she in midst of suffering a serious psychosis? _

**Psychiatrist goes crazy after treating the Joker** – wouldn’t be the first time this headline popped up in the Gotham Gazette and not the most original either.

_Get a grip, Harleen!_ She couldn’t let one bad night define her future. With a pained sigh, she pushed herself off the cold floor and stumbled to her unmade bed. She still had more or less 4 hours of sleep waiting for her. Fully clothed she drifted off to sleep. 

* * *

** Joker’s cell, 1:34 am **

Meanwhile the Joker found himself in a similar state of conflict. One that he couldn’t quite decipher himself yet which... well, wasn’t very like him at all! Hours had passed since the good Doctor had fled his cell, leaving behind a cloud of her disgustingly sweet perfume. A scent of rotten flowers and cotton candy that was still vaguely clinging to his nostrils.

What had even driven her to enter his cell in the first place? The seek of a thrill perhaps? The wish to fix the broken creature infront of her? Or simply the deep seated desire to proof herself to the useless bunch of failed existences who called themselves practitioners...

_ What a little looney she was.  _

A crackpot hiding behind the mask of the boring, bland Doctor. Oh, he certainly enjoyed the irony in those words!

He had clearly spotted her mask slip when her throat was tightly locked in his death grip. The flash of her pearly white teeth smiling up at him, it had actually managed to catch him off guard. 

As a matter of fact he found it infuriating!

If only his hands had pushed her neck a little longer and harder, to erase the little annoyance from the back of his mind! 

That sickeningly rotten smell of her perfume however, clearly must have fogged his mind...

He had let his control slip for a moment and the next thing he noticed were those luscious plump lips threatening to break through his barriers.

Needless to say manipulation was a useful tool to him and of course physical contact was just another form of manipulation. In fact people always dug in so easily and let their little hearts get attached and broken.

What he hadn’t anticipated however was how he suddenly felt himself reacting to her as well? His primary plan suddenly all forgotten as he felt her greedily tug on his lips. 

To make matters worse, there was this disgusting warmth spreading in his chest, trying to reach places that had been frozen into place for decades. It made him feel sick to a point where he wanted to vomit. 

That’s when he had pulled the plug!...And up until now he was still trying to figure out what exactly had ridden him back there. 

Whatever it was, he filed it as a one occasion type of deal. 

Whilst the little crackpot Doctor, with her oh so clever words and her wicked ways, might be entertaining to watch, growing attachments wasn’t his style. They were set on a train with only one destination – to serve the ultimate punchline!

The future would tell how much further he’d be able to push her!

Sure, if he’d really wanted he could have been back out on the streets again ages ago. But truth be told he wasn’t in a hurry to return to his businesses. Lately things just hadn’t been what they used to be.... _He was bo-red._

Even though his establishments, as well as his “other businesses” with the bats, were running well, there was that part of him that was craving new thrills.

Sure chasing the batman still gave him the kicks he needed. But the thrill of it all was somehow missing. He had come to that conclusion when he noticed his action were all starting to fall into...a certain pattern. Where had all the excitement gone? More and more he was starting to become predictable. It started to itch him....

Staying at Arkham was a welcoming holiday and would give him the time to distract himself and come up with new manoeuvres.  


On the plus side of it all he was making fair use of his free time by finding himself a new handy little project to keep him busy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That’s all folks, for chapter 4! I’m also considering to create some fan art for this story, if you have any ideas or requests please let me know! :) Writing is kind of my main outlet after a busy day of working from home so I’m currently quick to provide new chapters. The pandemic blues is strong!
> 
> If you made it this far please leave some kudos! <3


	5. Twisted Reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter Harleen visits the case of former Doctor Pamela Isley aka. Poison Ivy and is shocked to discover the news about the Jokers future treatment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wasn’t sure whether to post this now since this chapter has a less light hearted tone but might as well. Long story short: I made same art for this story (kinda inspired by the moment in Jokers cell). Anyways, I hope you like it, I haven’t drawn in awhile but I gave it my best shot! :) 
> 
> (also pls ignore the lack of tattoos...)

  
It took about three dark coffees and unreasonable quantities of sugar that next morning to be able to keep her eyes open.  


To say she didn’t sleep well was an understatement. After finally drifting off to sleep the nightmares started creeping in again. Even more intense than on any of the other nights before.

It would have been more than reasonable to call in sick after the encounter the night prior but Harleen, however, _never_ took days off!

A true workaholic by nature feasting off constant stress and productivity.

There was also the clinging awareness that staying in would probably just drive her even more over the edge right now. 

She also realised that whilst being hyperfocused on the Jokers case she had been more or less neglecting her other patients. Whilst being there physically during sessions, mentally she often found her thoughts creeping back to the Joker. She had drawn that conclusion after returning from a session with one of her mobster cases, with a virtually empty notebook page whilst he had shared a tearful story about his abusive father that made him join the mob. 

_ She would have to start recording sessions... _

There was also another interesting case assigned to her. A woman so “dangerous” Arkham had felt the need to lock her into a sealed hermetic enclosure, specifically built for her. Pamela Isley, former Doctor of biology.  


She made use of plant-based toxins and mind-controlling pheromones in her warfare against the city. 

She had only met her once so far and she hadn’t exactly been very responsive during their session. Harleen, however hadn’t taken it personal. They were literally suffocating her in there and stripped her from all human decency by putting her in this “butterfly jar”.

Even without really knowing her, after reading her long case file, she felt like she did. Her heart had always gone out to the misunderstood. And whilst Arkham just wanted her as tightly locked away as possible, due to her criminal history of eco terrorism, Harleen actually wanted to understand why she did, what she did.

_You only became poisonous to keep other predators away_ , so Harleen believed.

* * *

With her long green legs she had stepped infront of the glass wall that was separating her from the rest of the world. Sad eyes, gazing to the window at the end of the hall.

Her green skin had faded drastically in the couple months she had been here. Non-stop they were spraying – or more like polluting the room with a special kind of mist that prevented anything from growing inside. That of course included herself! No sunlight – no fresh air. Ivy felt...drained. The last thing she really needed right now was seeing another one of these meatbag doctors.

“Good morning, Miss Isley!”

“It’s Ivy...” she replied with a sigh, gazing up to the blonde doctor infront of her. Now whilst she did give her more credit than the other meatbags in this institution she was far from believing she was any different then the rest of the people that had locked her into this torture device. 

“How have have you been doing since our first session?” she asked her, offering a kind smile. 

“Let’s say they didn’t give me bed sheets for a reason. If you get what I mean.” she huffed darkly, her eyes falling to the the flower shaped brooch on her labcoat. A daisy... “Bellis perennis...” she whispered the botanical term.

Harleen looked up for a moment unsure what she was referring to but quickly realised she was talking about the meaningless accessory she had decided to put on this morning. Part of her truly felt for her. The knowledge of how dangerous she was didn’t dampen that in the least. Nobody deserved to be put into such a dehumanising contraption. 

“I wish there was more I could do to help improve your situation. I don’t agree with the way you were rehomed into this... absurd contraption!” Harleen sighed in mild frustration about the absurdity of this institution.

Ivy glanced up for a moment somewhat surprised by the expression of genuine care coming from a doctor 

“Well you could start by getting rid of these...pressed layers of dead forests you carry around there. Even after being silenced, I can still hear their screams. Gives me a headache, you know..” she nodded to the notepad that was placed infront of her.

“Done!” Harleen agreed with a understanding smile, pushing the notepad aside willingly. “You know I’ve always preferred record tapes anyways...” she told her. 

Ivy’s eyes started softening at her gesture. Maybe not all was lost with this Doctor yet. “I would appreciate that...” she replied with the hint of a smile.

Basic human respect wasn’t exactly something that was thrown after you at Arkham. It made even small things appear more meaningful.

“I’ll talk to Professor Arkham, maybe there’s a chance we can bring you closer to the sunlight again. I’ve read everything about your condition and it’s a disgrace they would still choose to put you in here!” the Doctor ranted furiously, not realising that her scarf began to slip – threatening to reveal the dark bruises on her throat.

It was already too late when she noticed the garment slipping over her shoulders. Her hands immediately shot up in orderto cover her neck before she hastily put the scarf back on.

The damage had already been done however.

The dark blemishes clearly hadn’t gone unnoticed by Ivy. Even though she was trapped in a hermetically locked capsule, she didn’t live on the moon! Rumours still managed to find their way to Her. Without a doubt it was the Joker that had left those marks on her and god knows what else. Part of her felt the slightest bit of compassion for the young Doctor.

“I-uh gotta call it short today. But I was glad I got to talk to you, Ms. Is-.. Ivy!” she quickly stated in slight embarrassment before she stepped up from her seat. “Let me know if there’s anything else I can do for you!”

“Be careful out there, Doctor. The most dangerous predators in here come in the most vivid colours.” she called after her as she had already turned towards the exit. It wasn’t until she made it to elevator that she realised what Ivy had intended to tell her. She was talking about Arkham or more precisely she was referring to him!

Part of her starting feeling paranoid as if the whole world could suddenly see that the Joker had marked her. Her steps quickened as she felt like a thousand eyes watched her on the way to her demise.

_ God she really needed another coffee. _

“God dammit, Quinzel why are running around here like a headless chicken?” she heard the unfriendly voice of Arkham shout at her from the side.

“Pardon, sir. I’ve kinda been in a rush.” she lied, forcing an apologetic smile.

“Well, whatever banality you were up to can wait. I’m here to talk about the Joker case.” He stated dryly, his withered hand adjusting his outdated pair of glasses back into place.

A wave of fear struck Harleen. Did he know about the incident? Was he simply there to send her packing for the gross misconduct of handling a patient?

“O-oh?” she croaked out, her mouth suddenly turning all dry.

“You’ve been at the case for weeks now, Quinzel but what we are lacking to see here is actual progress. Now I’m not expecting for this man to be rolled out cured and re-established into society but none of your sessions delivered any sorts of new information or improvement in his behaviour.” he declared with a condescending tone.

Harleen actually felt a wave of relief wash over her at the scolding. Whatever he was about to tell her, couldn’t be as worse as getting herself fired over throwing herself at a patient.

_ She’d only realise later, how dead wrong she was... _

“Infact we are this close to another lawsuit because the guy decided to send another nurse into the ER on life support!” he muttered under his breath, letting his hand slide over his face in clear frustration.

“He what?!” Harleen blurted clearly unaware of this piece of new information.

“What I’m implying is, we are in dire need to take actions after this sort of incident! He’ll be put on stronger medication additional to a new form of treatment. Starting tomorrow he’ll receive electroconvulsive therapy.” Arkham informed her.

“ECT..b-but but.. it’s been proven that this sort of treatment is ineffective. In fact it could cause brain damage or trigger psychosis..and-“ she was caught off before she could continue explaining why this was a horrible idea.

“Spare your breath, Quinzel. My decision is final! We are talking about damage control at this point, even if all we can do is shut him up for a couple weeks.” he told her with complete disinterest about her opinion.

“That’s all for now. Good Day!” he told her already turning around to leave.

Harleen was furious. She felt her face getting all heated up as rage started to consume her thoughts. The temptation to run after him and slap the old prick across the face for his insensibility about patients health was strong. There was about a million reasons why this was a bad idea! Using methods from the 50’s on people NEVER worked. He might as well bring lobotomies back!

She found herself once again storming off into the rest room, not even bothering to check if she was alone as she ripped the scarf off her neck. Her eyes stared at the blemishes intently. _Was this the punishment for her actions?_

Could it be her fault that he had attacked the nurse in this vicious manner? He hadn’t actually shown any form of extreme violence up until after their _intimate_ encounter in his cell. It could have very well triggered something...

His punishment, it was her fault! She let out a pained sob, her fist sharply connecting with the paper dispenser. She closely watched the prominent dent in the metal before hitting it again and again till her knuckles burst open. 

With another silent sob she let herself sink down on the floor and let her feelings take over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know how you liked the introduction of Ivy and as always kudos are much appreciated! :)


	6. Simmer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the Joker gets scheduled for ECT sessions, the doctor finds herself the victim of an unexpected visit. Things began to escalate from there on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a pain to write therefore my apologies for the slight delay. I originally intended to get it posted on the weekend. 
> 
> MILD TW: Attempted Rape, Gore

It was evening time at Arkham. The Doctor had spent a good fraction of the day sulking in her office trying to suppress the overwhelming feeling of guilt and anger. She had coped by burying herself into paper work whilst self medicating with benzos and caffeine. She had quite arguably never sunken this low...

Not to mention this was very well something that could have been prevented. Maybe if she would have just stayed with gymnastics. If only she had worked a little harder, she could be wearing olympic gold around her neck right now whilst slurping exotic cocktails with the elites.

Her dream had ultimately ended when she discovered her dad had been sleeping with her trainer this whole time. Shortly after, Harleen had called it quits by provoking a leg injury that sent her into 3 months of rehab. The olympic gold instead turned into an enrollment at the University of Gotham.

A path that had sent her inevitably into the arms of a murderous, manipulative clown. But even now, he wasn’t the one responsible for this situation. It had been her complete incapability of making the right choices! She was convinced her terrible negligence of duty had been the main catalyst for his actions the day prior.

_ It was her fault they were torturing him... _

She had spent the whole day thinking about it excessively. Desperate to come up with a solution or a way around it. What could she possibly do after all? Spill a can of grape soda over the ETC machine hoping the circuits would combust and spare him? _Yeah, not the wisest plan._ But whatever she would come up with now, it was too late..

The appointment scheduled for 4:30 pm had already taken place. Weirdly enough she had expected the roof to fall down over her head or the place to go up in flames but no, it had been quiet all day, way too quiet.

She tried to swallow the feeling of uneasiness and decided to wrap things up for the day.

With a heavy sigh she reached into her bag and fiddled for the key to lock her office. But before the metal even hit the lock, a sudden awareness sparked in her, she wasn’t alone!

“J..” she whispered, already knowing it was him without having to turn around. His sheer presence seemed to just fill the air with an electric sensation.

“Hello Doctor, funny we just keep running into each other, hm?” his voice sounded raspy, his words almost slurred. A wave of guilt washed over her and she finally found the strength to turn around and meet his eyes.

His hair was messy and tousled. His usually perfect sculpted hairstyle completely out of place now. The circular burn marks from the ECT only partially hidden behind a curtain of green strands that hung lowly over his forehead.

She immediately took a step back as the sight almost made her sob.

“Uh-ah, not so fast, Doc. We’ve got some uh, unfinished business to take care off.” he growled at her, flashing her a blood stained scalpel.

She briefly wondered whose blood it was covered in but her thoughts were quickly disrupted as she felt the pointy end being pushed into her neck vein.

_ On the verge of death the second time this week. She could call herself lucky... _

“U-unfinished business?” she repeated, trying to make sense of his words. Was he seeking revenge for the things that happened in his cell that night?

He briefly lost his balance, his body slumping forward and almost crashed into hers. Additional to the ETC they must have put him on a elephant dose of tranquilizers.

“Mr. J....” she whispered in clear shock at the state he was presented to her. “What have they done to you....” she said in a muted tone, her lips turning into a frown as she gazed into his bloodshot eyes.

He immediately regained his posture, using the wall behind her to steady himself. He felt a certain drowziness returning in the back of his head. Oh right they tried to drug him earlier, hadn’t they?  _ Pa-thetic, heh.  _ All it did was screw with his upstairs department but it sure didn’t knock his lights out like they had hoped for.

He simply threw her a funny look, somewhat irritated at her question.

“They?” he glared at her, the dark patches around his eyes matching the circular burn marks of the ETC. “Funny, you would say that. You know here I was thinking you were trying to call it uh, even? An eye for an eye...” he remarked and added some more pressure on the razor sharp weapon that was still resting above her neck artery.

“No, no! Don’t think for one second I had anything to do with this! This was all Arkhams idea!” she told him infuriated. She simply couldn’t believe it!

He briefly lowered his weapon and threw her a curious look. “Arkham, you say? Hm...who would have thought this old, fossil-fueled, suit wearer still had it in him.” he scoffed, interlocking his blood covered thumbs with the corners of her mouth pulling them up into a forced smile.

“You know perhaps I should pop in for a visit at ol’ Jerry’s office. I’m sure he’ll be just delighted to see the fruits of the medicine he practices, cause I sure feel like a million bucks, baby!” he told her with a sardonic grin, removing his hands from her face to leave a bloody smile painted on her features.

“I-uh... Mr. J. I don’t think that’s the best idea right now.” She attempted to stop him but it was pointless. He had already grabbed her wrist and pulled her down the hallway with him.

A wave of panic overcame her. Where they actually on their way to kill her boss? Why the hell did she have to be involved in this?

“J....” she tried again, barely managing to keep up with his merciless pace. During their journey his vision repeatedly seemed to slip and almost caused them to collide with the wall as his body threatened to give out. It didn’t seem to stop him in the slightest however.

They managed to make it to the upper floor unnoticed before they heard a group of guards approach on the other end of the corridor.

He wasn’t exactly in the mood to deal with them right now.

Quickly, he glanced around for an appropriate hideout and spotted an empty office a few feet further down. _Perfect!_

In a rush he snatched one of the pins out of her hair and effortlessly unlocked the door to the office. “Don’t catch roots out there...” he ordered her with an eyeroll, until she reluctantly followed him into the darkened office.

Once inside he immediately slumped down on the floor, his breath sounding erratic. Sweat pearls had started collecting on his forehead and his hair appeared completely drenched by now.

She could tell he was trying hard to cover up the miserable state he was in. Right now, he was pushing himself to stay conscious.

Slowly she reached out to touch his face, his forehead feeling feverishly hot underneath her cool fingertips.

He barely acknowledged her as his body slipped into an almost trance like state. Had it taken this long for the sedatives to kick in or was he still dealing with the after math of the ECT?

Without thinking her hands started stroking through his wet, matted hair. He didn’t seem to make any effort to stop her and after awhile he even started to.. lean into her touch?  
  


They had upped the amount of electricity three settings higher than usual on him hoping for the wished effect of him becoming a useless vegetable. It made him chuckle. All it did was put him in a slight sweat but the Joker was by far not giving up yet.

Right now he was too exhausted to even care so he simply gave in. He certainly wasn’t going to admit that the presence of the Doctor was somewhat soothing the nasty cinema that still played in his frontal lobe. He closed his eyes and let a soft purr slide past his lips when her hands started stroking his hair. He was going to allow himself this for now.

“Harleeeen Quinzel.” he eventually broke the silence, one eye popping open to read the name on her ID card,  “Hmmm what an odd name... Do your friends call you Harley?” He slurred out. He hadn’t really thought about it before but it did have a certain ring to it. 

“Uh, well... no one really called me that in a long time.” she laughed nervously not wanting to admit the obvious. She didn’t really have many friends to begin with.

“Well, they are clearly missing out, Harley.” he chuckled to himself. There was indeed something about her name. A hidden meaning...or more like a punchline! Maybe that’s what had made him keep her around for this long. To him she was somewhat of a puzzle. Like an annoying little itch in the back of his mind – one you couldn’t quite ignore until it went away. Maybe he had to start _scratching_! 

* * *

It was a rare moment showing the wild man so calm and accepting to the closeness. 

It really made her question every single diagnosis his former doctors had come up with. Antisocial Personality Disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Bipolar Disorder... and the list went on. Was he truly incapable of feeling? If so why hadn’t he just killed her yet? Now, she wasn’t foolish enough to believe he actually needed her around to play doctor on him but still there was something he saw in it for himself. Something that made him keep her around. 

_ She would have to dig deeper to find out. _

Their happy moment together was soon disrupted as the door swung open. 

A single guard made his appearance and to her surprise an all too familiar one! 

Harleen glanced at him in shock recognising the man as the guard she had punched in the face a few days prior. 

“Well, well if that ain’t Dr. Quintelle and her clown freak.” he exclaimed in a thick southern accent. “The whole squad is down there looking for him, y’know. Expecting the worst. Whilst you were up here banging the clown this whole time. Freaks, huh? That your thing?” he approached her with disgust in his voice.

“Quinzel. It’s Quinzel.” she corrected him angrily. “And no Mendez, this is definitely not what happened here, can’t you see the state he’s in?!” She snapped at the guard and pointed at the Joker who seemed to haveslipped into unconsciousness again.

“Huh, I bet your clown wasn’t able to perform tonight after they fried his brains out.” Mendez replied with a dirty smile, kicking his leg to verify if he was truly knocked out. 

His voice had somewhat of a creepy undertone to it, that Harleen really didn’t appreciate. Especially when he proceeded to shut the door behind himself.

“You wouldn’t mind if I jump in instead, princess? No of course you wouldn’t.” he laughed darkly, pushing the head of his gun into her right cheek. 

“No! What the hell are you thinking?! He is my patient and I’m not here to sleep with anyone!” she bravely pushed the pistol out of her face and glared at him.

The guard seemed visibly distraught by that move. “Just a patient? Right. You wouldn’t mind if I shot him then?” he rose an eyebrow and proceeded to point the gun at the unconscious Joker. 

“NO! Don’t!” she yelled instinctively and stepped infront of him in a protective manner.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought!” he huffed, “You think you’re a big number around here cause you get to treat the clown bastard, don’t you? But face it sweetheart, Arkham only hired you because you’re a blonde piece of ass. Nothing more to it.” Mendez informed her. 

“Maybe he thought spreading your legs for the Joker would cure him. But look at this guy there’s only one way to cure him and I’m more than happy to send him straight back to hell!” he growled and roughly shoved her out of the way to gain access to the Joker.

Anger started bubbling up in her. She quickly reached for the bulky phone on the desk and smashed it over his head. 

“Fucking bitch!” he hissed in pain, touching the now bleeding laceration on his head.

“Do I have to take care of you first then? You just need it this bad, huh?” he snarled and pushed her roughly against the wall, her glasses cracking in the process.

She whimpered in pain as she heard the man undo his zipper. His breath reeked of tobacco and decay.

“Time to teach you a lesson!” he smirked, pushing her face further into the wall.

Harleen helplessly glanced over to the Joker just to find his prior spot empty? Had he actually done a runner and left her alone with the perverted guard?

Her shaky hands slipped into her lab coats pocke as she suddenly remembered something. The scalpel. She had pocketed it earlier when the Joker hadn’t paid attention. For her own safety and well...everyone elses.

When she felt his greasy hands on her skirt something inside her snapped. She propped her heel up against the wall and used it as support to push herself off, slamming full force into his body.

“Get the fuck off me!” she shouted, even though her voice was shaky, her whole body was filled with adrenaline. She finally had enough of his bullshit!

“You think I haven’t heard all of that already? I’ve been hearing those things since day one at Uni! You don’t know anything about me! Hiding behind a weapon and a badge like a coward!But I’m not some blonde bimbo you can silence by pointing a gun at me!” she hissed at him, letting the pointy bottom of her heel roughly connect with his groin. Harleen never really considered herself as a particularly violent person but seeing the guards face twist in pain felt oddly satisfying.

“Urgh bitch!” he howled in pain. “Dumb blonde freak cunt! I’ll shut you up for good!” the guard grunted and fiddled for his gun.

With a loud bang a shot went off and striped her left arm before the projectile entered the wall beside her. The loud noise sent her mind spinning and she couldn’t think clearly anymore, all she felt was an enormous wave of rage wash over her. Her hands suddenly seemed to act faster than her mind could process. She felt her right hand twitch upwards and rammed the scalpel straight into his eye socket. It wasn’t enough to satisfy the burning rage inside her! He had to pay.

Her body started moving on it’s own as she began to scratch and claw at him, not caring when her nails broke as she took pieces of skin off his face. “Call me stupid again! I got a PhD!” she hissed under her breath, watching his body fall backwards like a sack of meat.

She picked up the vintage phone from the floor beside her and let it roughly collide with his skull as she began to straddle him. “You better take this call!” she laughed darkly, hitting him over and over again. She didn’t stop until she eventually felt a strong pair of arms pull her away from him. She struggled against the force that was holding her upright until she realised it was him! The Joker. Had he been watching her this whole time?

“Mr. J..- I.” she gulped out, looking down at the guards mangled body and then back up to the Joker.

“Oh you, you, you..little crackpot! I leave you alone for one minute and you decide to give this place a new paint job!” he growled softly, cupping her blood covered face. His eyes increasingly darkening as he stared down at the mess his doctor had created just moments prior. It was simply... _delicious_.

“Where have you been anyways. I-I could have used some help there...” she whispered, still trying to fully process the events as she felt herself dissociating.

“Me? Oh I was making sure we don’t get unwanted company!” he explained to her, holding up the remains of a CCTV he had seemingly ripped out of the walls.

“Wouldn’t want to blemish your uh, spotless reputation in this institution because of one teeny tiny slip up.” he told her innocently. He was far from done with her yet after all.

“God-..How the hell am I gonna explain this?! There’s blood everywhere-...my DNA..I-.” she paused mid sentence as she felt herself hyperventilating.

The Joker rolled his eyes at that as if the answer was obvious. “Shhh shhh.... Har-ley. What’s with the frown when we can simply just make him disappear!” he whispered to her. He was standing so close, she could almost feel his lips against her ear shell.

“You know, it takes just one call for him to be compressed inside a block of metal and turned into a car in Japan. Orrr chopped into tiny pieces and added to killer crocs breakfast bowl. I’ve heard perverted guards are his favourite.” he chuckled darkly, his arms wrapping around her shoulders.

“Your choice, Ha-r-r-rley.” he let the “R” in her name seductively roll off his tongue.

“But all the blood...and...” she tightly held onto his arm. “There’s just no way. Someone’s going to notice.” she stammered, feeling both hot and cold. The physical closeness of him alongside the rising panic were slowly driving her further over the edge.

“Right, oh yeah, the blood. Silly me! I suppose there’s just one simple solution then!” he told her picking up the gun and pointed it at the deceased mans head before firing off the whole remaining magazine into his face.

“Whatcha think? This might just be my best one so far.” he snickered, pleased with himself as he gazed upon the artistic interpretation of a smiley he had placed in form of bullet holes. It had not just deemed the man unrecognisable but would also lead investigators straight to the Joker and away from Harley. His handwriting was unmistakable.

It didn’t take long for her to realise what he was intending to do. He was taking the blame for her actions!

“Mr. J, no! What are they gonna do with you if they find out?” she vigorously shook her head.

“Don’t act like I’m doing you some kind of favour. Let’s call it a trade! One more death in my books in exchange for a tiny favour.” he proposed to her.

“Oh and one more thing!” He paused for a second and reached forward to pick up her cracked glasses just to carelessly discard them sideways. “No more playing pretend..” he growled lowly, taking hold of her face again as he stared into her eyes intently.

“W-what kinda trade, Mr. J?” she questioned in a muted voice, watching her non-prescription glasses drop to the floor.

_ Had she just agreed to a deal with the devil himself? _

“Oh nothing spectacular. Let’s say...” he thought for a second, “I’m asking you for a smile! A honest one. Smile for me like you mean it Harley!” he ordered her, his own lips spreading into a devious grin.

She gave him a confused look at first. Unsure whether he was being serious with her right now. But the more she thought about it the more she became aware of the whole absurdity of the situation. Wasn’t this just what the Joker did? Hold a mirror infront of the city to show them exactly what they are? It was the purest form of comedy.

And whilst her insides begged her to cry she felt herself smiling instead. Brighter and wider than she ever had before. “Now that’s what I’m talking about!” he snickered, his head falling back with manic laughters. 

“ _I get it now. I finally get it, Mr. J.” she thought to herself._

Her finger clawed down into fabric of his shirt as she started to join in into his manic laughing fit. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are starting to escalate at Arkham. Read the next chapter to see how Harleen will cope with her “little slip up”. As always kudos and comments are very much appreciated <3


	7. Experiment On Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harleen has a particularly interesting meeting with Commissioner Gordon that seals the Jokers fate. Things take a heated turn when she finally get’s to see the Joker and decides to fill him in about Gordon’s plans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay again, this chapter took me everything! I hope I was able to make it worth the wait though! I finished it in a rush earlier today so all mistakes are mine. Anyways be PREPARED for some mild smut.

“Alright Dr. Quinzol? Let’s repeat this one more time.” the officer cleared his throat and briefly glanced up from his papers.

She sighed heavily, four hours were a long time to be sitting in a stuffy interrogation room. Especially after the kinda night she’d been having.

They had offered her a coffee but it was already cold before she even received it. She had gulped it down anyways, needing the kick of caffeine in hopes to play the role of the victim convincingly. Even though officially, she’d only been called in as a witness rather than a suspect, it didn’t seem to change the constricting feeling of anxiety she got in the small room. She could feel herself jump inwardly at every new question directed at her.

Thankfully there seemed to be a lot of repetition in her questioning. After explaining the same scenario over and over again she kinda got the hang of it and was able to gain more confidence in her statement.

“It’s Quinzel. Dr. Quinzel.” she corrected him quickly. It had turned into quite a habit by now.

He ignored her and simply continued with his procedure.

“So you said you were on your way home when this happened?” he questioned her.

_Yes. For the millionth time._ She had to bite back the snarky remark and tried to remain her composed look. “Yes, officer. I was just about to finish up for the day when Mr. J-.. I mean the Joker intercepted infront of my office door.” she quickly corrected herself. The cop, being too focused on the piles of paper stacked infront of him didn’t seem to notice her little slip up there.

_ When would this nightmare finally end? _

The clock was marking 1:30 am by now. She could only do so much as guess about how long they were planning to keep her in for questions.

“Right and you said he was making claims about assassinating Professor Jeremiah Arkham whilst holding onto a weapon?” he checked his notes before looking back at her.

“Well he was clearly unsettled after receiving Electroconvulsive Therapy. Therefore I don’t believe he can be taken fully accountable for his actions.” she stated, her voice rising notably. Was she defending the Joker?

“Not accountable?” he scoffed, clearly triggered by her statement. “He brutally slaughtered a good man tonight and injured several other staff members including you, Doctor Quinzel!” he paused for a second to put down his pen and shot her a stern glance. 

”Is there anything I’m not getting straight here? Cause from my understanding he was fully aware of his actions from start to finish. Even under a whole army’s worth of sedatives the guy is a god damn lose cannon! You know what this tells me? Arkham is not the place for a criminal like him!” he slammed his fist down onto the metal table to emphasise his heated statement.

It was that moment the door popped open and Commissioner Gordon slipped into interrogation room to intercept.

“Come on, Barry. Leave the poor woman some air to breath. I think that’s enough for tonight.” Gordon chimed in, gazing at the clock with a sigh. “I’ll drive you home. Let’s go, Dr. Quinzel.” he waved her over. Harleen definitely didn’t need to be told twice and immediately got up from the table. She was more than happy to be rid off the buzz-cut gorilla infront of her.

The other officer rolled his eyes at the commissioner’s remark, clearly not happy about the sudden interruption but reluctantly agreed after checking the time on his own wrist watch.

“One more thing. Are you available to return for any follow up questions?” he asked her with a firm glance.

“Sure, I mean yeah, anything I can do to help. You’ll know where to find me, Officer Parks.”she faked a smile before quickly following the Commisioner out of the room. Her legs and back were painfully stiff after being trapped ina seated position for this long.

“My apologies, Doctor. It’s just normal procedure. I know it can be a right pain in the ass.” Gordon told her briefly, holding the door open for her.

“You’re only doing your job just like I was trying to do mine.” she offered him a grateful smile. He’d truly been her saviour. One more question and she probably would have lost it.

Truth be told she never thought she’d be this good at lying at the police. Not like there had ever been a particular reason to do so other than maybe escape a speeding ticket. Perhaps something had rubbed off on her after studying pathological liars for years.

“Forgive my forwardness but I can’t help but wondering, why the hell did the Joker spare you?” Gordon suddenly asked as they were sat in the outdated police vehicle. Funding for the GCPD really must have gone down, she thought briefly.

“Well, I’m afraid I can’t give you a straight answer to that. I know he has a history of killing his previously assigned Doctors after their attempts to treat him gruesomely backfired. But whilst he shows no remorse I don’t think he kills just plan less. Every death serves some kind of higher purpose, whether it’s a statement or just a way to get what he wants. I know for a fact he’s had previous run in’s with said guard, he has been uh, violent towards patients before .” she explained to him trying to suppress the gruesome visuals of the dead guards face.

“Hmm...I see. Well I’m actually glad to get to speak to you alone for a moment. There’s something I’ll need your help with.” he declared.

She glanced at him in surprise but nodded as indication for him to continue.

“Well as you might have gathered we’re not too fond of having the Joker around at Arkham where he continuously slips out under our grasp and manages to wreak havoc. In other words, we want him sent back to Blackgate and that’s were you come in, Dr. Quinzel.” he paused for a moment to look over his shoulder to manoeuvre the police car out of the parking lot. “In order to get the court order for his relocation, we’ll need your professional assessment.”

She was speechless to say the least. From all people she seemed to be the last person to want Joker in Blackgate! Not after everything that happened. She had sacrificed too much time and potentially her sanity for this case.

Not to mention the thought of losing him, it scared her! As stupid as it may sounded she felt the least bit of possessiveness towards his case and she wasn’t gonna give him up this easily. However in her current situation, she had to play it smart. Having the police commissioner ask her for a more or less personal favour put her in a more credible spot than being identified as the Joker’s fanatic accomplice. If she agreed to help she’d be inevitably off the police’s radar for awhile.

“I do have my doubts about sending him into an environment such as blackgate but I’m willing to help you if that’s the only way.” she told him. “Now this won’t exactly be a fast process however with a high risk patient like him as you can imagine.” she continued thoughtfully.

“Oh nothing ever is about police work.”he chuckled and brought the car to a halt infront of her apartment complex. “I do appreciate your help, Doctor. We’ll remain in contact about that. Stay safe out there.” he told her briefly and she noticed a certain look of concern flicker over his features.

„Good night, Commissioner and thanks for the ride.” she saw him off before walking towardsthe building. Whilst all the monsters were locked away safely at Arkham, deep down she knew she had no one else to fear but herself.

* * *

Strapped to a special transportation device the Joker was carried down the gloomy hallway. It had been more or less a week now since his ECT session had so drastically backfired. Ever since he was pretty much treated like a raw egg. Even the guards were more on edge than usual around him. It was hilarious to the Joker knowing that the real perpetrator was one of the staff members and any moment now he was going to meet her again. It had been far too long already and he was starting to grow impatient.

It wasn’t like there was much to keep himself busy with, other than his thoughts and as hard as he tried, they kept slipping back to the precious moment his Doctor went rogue.

Whilst the Joker had killed guards, seen guards being killed and observed guards trying to kill him, it was fair to say that none of those scenarios had left quite the visual impact on him as this one!

His wicked little doctor all covered in blood and gore whilst the guard was trapped under her mercy. It had taken more than picturing commissioner Gordon naked to contain his self control that night. He was actually starting to wonder who was corrupting who more? This sudden slip of control made him furious and it was about time he got a word in with her.

Was it all just her tactic to get to him? She wouldn’t be the first to put her career on stake to try and write a book about him. Did she really think he was dumb enough to believe it?

Who was this doctor to think that she could actually get through to him? He felt the sudden urge to wrap his cold hands around her throat and choke all the secrets out of her. Have her admit that this was all just show!

_ She wasn’t real. She couldn’t be! _

He’d been there for the past 5 minutes when she finally decided to make an appearance. She looked ruffled, to say the least.

“You look tired, Doc. Something keep you up?” he questioned her smugly, knowing very well what or more precisely who was responsible for the dark circles around her eyes.

“Morning, Mr. J.” she greeted him, with a little less enthusiasm than usual.

“Oh I’ve missed our little talks.” he cooed, leaning over the table slightly. He didn’t fail to notice the clear change in her behaviour.

“I bet there’s something you’re just dying to tell me, hm?” he watched her closely as she pressed the off button on the recording device.

“Actually, there is...” she sighed, rubbing her forehead. “They want to put you into Blackgate. The cops, Professor Arkham and god knows who else and I’m supposed to be doing the psychological assessment for them.” she told him bluntly.

“Well what’s stopping you then?” he questioned her directly, his head shifting to the side.

“What’s stopping me?! This isn’t right, Mr. J! None of this is! It’s Arkhams fault things escalated so terribly. They should never have used ECT on you! And I-... I’m also responsible.” she glanced down at the table unable to meet his eyes. She felt an uncontrollable wave of guilt wash over her. It wasn’t even killing the guard itself that weighed on her consciousness but the consequences her actions were holding.

“Oh come on! It’s not all that black and white, Harley. That’s how Batman cares to view the world!” he rolled his eyes in response and shifted in his seat.

She knew he must be speaking from experience, this wasn’t his first rodeo with the law after all. _Why did everything have to feel so complicated then?_

She wordlessly glanced up to meet his eyes, trying to understand what exactly he was saying. His piercing blue eyes had been on her this whole time.

“Fine, let me elaborate. You do something bad, you face the consequences? You do something good and what? Get a medal? A worthy mention maybe?” he shook his head with a scoff.

“Let’s face it, Harley, you get a dead rats ass for playing by the rules! In a way it even goes against human nature. We like to cover our own ugliness with a manifesto of rules and order. But the ugliness, it doesn’t go away! In fact, it simply starts growing the more you choose to ignore it - digging it’s way back up to the surface.” 

What he was telling her, it all made sense somehow. As crazy as it may sounded, the more she thought about the more she found herself agreeing with his thesis?

“What about the Batman... How does he fit into your thesis?” she questioned him professional enthusiasm.

“Right, yes, let’s take Batman for example! His no kill rule? Hah! A joke. All it takes is one bad day to reduce even the sanest man alive to lunacy. So called heroes? They don’t exist...” He explained to her, “He too, will crack. Give it a little time and he’ll fall harder than anyone before him ever did. And when he does,the whole city will be there to watch his prat fall.” he told her with a sardonic smile spreading on his features. “Does this answer your question, hm?” he questioned her dryly, leaning back into his chair.

Truth be told she was a little overwhelmed. She hadn’t expected to get such a precise answer out of him for once.

“I, yes, umm... I think I’m starting to understand your believes a little better. The city, the people... they are the real the disease and Batman is just a symptom.” she deduced

“Ex-actly! You know, Harley...now that we’re getting along so well. Would you care to open this scratchy old jacket for me? I think we’re long past those sort of formalities, dontcha think?” he licked his lips with a dark tint in his eyes. He was right in a way. Whatever he planned to do to her, a straitjacket was hardly able to stop him anyways.

“I-...uh... You know what? Fine! But you better not get handsy this time! I hate wearing scarves you know...” she told him firmly with a pointed finger.

He simply chuckled at her. He had more than enjoyed seeing her carry around those blemishes. He had marked her as his toy, for the whole world to see but of course she had to cover them with some sort of frigid scarf.

She slowly started to undo the latches of his strait jacket, briefly hesitating before she opened the last one. Was this all just another big mistake? She knew damn well how things had ended up last time and yet she was provoking another dangerous situation?

It was too late to regret however.

The scratchy material slipped over his shoulder and the Joker was up on his feet in one smooth motion. Free, completely unrestrained and unpredictable. What could possibly go wrong?

“Now that we are eye-to-eye, answer me on thing, Harley.” He licked his lips, his dark glance staring her down as she was leaning against the metal table infront of him. She was dressed a little more bold than usual. Her open labcoat exposed the dark red blouse with a almost scandalously low cleavage she was wearing and another one of those sinfully tight skirts. A match made in hell it seemed cause it was sure driving him crazy.

“You know the uh, asking questions part is actually my job.” she chuckled. “But sure, fine.” she nodded with a sigh.

He took a step closer towards her, his pale hand slipping down her shoulder.

“Tell me, Harley. What did it feel like taking the guards life?” he questioned her with a soft growl.

Her eyes immediately widened in surprise. “J...I-...” she began but was unable to form proper words. This was definitely not something she wanted to discuss in therapy or in any other setting. She still hadn’t quite come to terms with the events herself yet. Whatever she had felt or done in that moment, it had undoubtedly happened in an act of self defense. “I didn’t feel anything...” she gulped out and shamefully adverted her eyes.

He didn’t believe her. 

“No, no... we both know that’s not true! You Doctor Quinzel, are a little liar!” The Jokersnarled, his hand roughly grabbing her chin. 

“There’s a whole different story. One that you’re too afraid to tell. Oh saying it out loud makes it all just so painfully... real, doesn’t it? But this picture you’re uh, trying to to paint of yourself, it’s nothing but a facade.” he hissed and tightened the hold on her face “Time to wake up, Harleeeey.”

She started struggling under his grasp, her fists coming down to land on his chest in a failed attempt to push him away. Flickers and images of that night started clouding her vision. Just the thought of the guards filthy grin and his greasy hands made her blood boil once again.

He clearly would have had no issue raping her and possibly killing both her and her patient. Was it really her fault when she had ultimately just acted in a matter of self defense? However something had clearly snapped inside her that night...

He had been the personification of every sexist comment, every judgemental look and all the ignorance she had received over the years. Taking his life, in a way, had ultimately set her free of those shackles. All the built up anger she’d carried around finally found a release! But even now it felt like it wasn’t enough...

“Fine you wanna hear the truth?” she groaned in frustration. “Wiping that disgustingly smug grin off his face, it felt great! For once in my life it felt like I was finally in control again!” she spat at him, her finger clawing into his undershirt.

His normal response to anyone else daring to step this close, would have been to snap their neck or crack their head open on the table like a raw egg. But not his, Doctor. There was something special about seeing her emerge with such rage. He couldn’t deny the fact that it was rather stimulating!

After all this time she was finally starting to let herself go a bit! Who would have thought that all it would take was one perverted guard to push her buttons. Nevertheless she still wasn’t quite there yet. He wanted to push her so much further than this! Oh, itwould simply take a little more charm-and-harm to get her there.

“There she is...” he snickered taking hold of herwrists. _A harlequin indeed._

“You know I think I might have underestimated you a little there. You, Harley just never fail to surprise me.” he cooed, emphasising each word as he slowly stepped closer to her.

“You see, If anyone else freed me like this, I would have punished their stupidity without a second thought... but you...” he growled softly, his hands moving her’s over to his rapidly beating heart. “Call me a fool but no ones done that to me, in a long time.” his voice had taken on a serious tone.

“Mr. J...” she murmured in slight surprise at his forward statement. Her anger immediately seemed to fade and was replaced by a different feeling. Was he actually being serious with her this once? _She didn’t want to believe other wise!_

“You know I live for these moments with you...” he purred out, letting his pale hand glide over her blushing cheeks. There was a clear hunger reflecting in his eyes. Harleen couldn’t quite tell whether it was anger or... _lust_?

However she was sure she had seen it on him before. But this time it was so much more intense. Her heart was pounding heavily in her chest, she was barely able to reply at this point, the urge to act was much stronger!

_ Oh what are you doing, Harley?! _

With one smooth motion she pulled him forward until his lips heatedly collided with hers. Unlike last time his response was immediate and equally as urgent. Their teeth clashed together in a kiss filled with raw, unhinged emotion. Unrestrained and unpredictable there was no way of telling what he would do next.

With a soft growl his hands immediately found their way into her hair, ripping open the neatly shaped bun on top of her head to let her blonde strands loosely fall over her shoulders. Effectively corrupting her order with his chaos! 

Her desire was driving her absolutely mad. She wanted to feel him, all of him! Allow herself a taste of the thrill she had felt many night ago.

A soft moan escaped her, her tongue eagerly begging him for entrance as she felt his strong hands tug and pull on her hair. He truly had awoken a forbidden hunger inside her! One that she definitely shouldn’t be feeling towards her patient. But at this point there was no going back!

Especially when she felt his cold hands roughly grab hold of her thighs, his pale fingers slipping underneath her skirt and approaching dangerous territory. “Mmmh...Mr. J.” she gasped in half shock, watching him through hooded eyes.

Oh how he craved to rip those sinful skirts apart. Relief her of all modesty and watch her go wild! Month and weeks of built up tension were closing in on them.

But it wasn’t enough...

With a low growl he suddenly had her pinned down on the table, knocking the wind out of her pipes as she roughly collided with the metal. “You dizzy little dame...” he whispered into her ear with a soft purr, watching her sprawled figure come undone. He clearly enjoyed the control he had over her.

Instead of planning a wicked comeback she arched up into him, wrapping her legs tightly around his waist to pull him down with her. He clearly underestimated her strength as he found himself on top of her on the table.

“Greedy, aren’t we, Doctor?” he chuckled darkly, snapping his hips against hers so she could her feel the burning desire she had provoked. Every part of him was pressing into her now. His bright purple Arkham slacks did in fact a poor job in hiding his prominent arousal. She simply bit her lips and purred in reply. The sound was clearly doing something to him as she was pulled into yet another bruising kiss.

He growled in frustration. She somehow managed to drive him just a little bit crazier. His lips moved aggressively against hers, biting, sucking and ripping open the first couple buttons of her blouse. Chasing after the relief of that inner rage he was holding.

She had kicked lose an avalanche of unrestrained desire in him. Something that was undeniably out of character for him. Yes, under normal circumstances he’d never let anyone this close not without killing them first.

But these weren’t normal circumstances and she wasn’t like any of the other boring Doctors!

_If only they could fully outlive this stolen moment. No clocks, no guards, no Arkham._

But of course privacy was an unaffordable luxury at Arkham. Moments later a firm knock snapped them out of their cloud of pheromones.

They quickly jumped apart in shock.

“Uh, Doctor Quinzel? We are here to pick up the Joker, everything alright in there? We heard some weird noises in there....” the muffled voice of a guard spoke from the other side of the door.

“Yes, I uh... dropped my recorder. All good!! I’ll be out in a few minutes!” she rambled in a high pitched voice, immediately proceeding to fix her hair and wipe off the smeared lipstick from her face.

The Joker just gave her a smug grin seeing how out of place she looked.

“Oh shut up...” she rolled her eyes, biting back a grin. “You better fix yourself!” she glanced down at his still quite prominent erection and quickly helped him back into the straitjacket.

“Well, Doctor... I found todays session particularly enlightening.” he teased her with a wink before the door snapped open and he was dragged out by the guards.

“Likewise...” she bit her lips, watching him dissapear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know your thoughts! :3 kudos and comments are as always a huge motivation and much appreciated!

**Author's Note:**

> If you found yourself enjoying this story so far, please, please consider leaving a review or some kudos it would mean the world to me! <3


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